ENERGY minister Elton Mangoma yesterday said key institutions such as hospitals and police stations were not entitled to free electricity because power utility Zesa was not subsidised by government.
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Mangoma told the House of Assembly during the questions without notice session that there was need for individuals and institutions to change their culture.
“I think this issue has been fully understood, that people must ensure all power used is paid for. Zesa doesn’t get any government subsidy so it can’t subsidise anyone. It doesn’t matter whether the consumer is a clinic or a police station. The issue is to prioritise payment. This is where the change of culture is important,” he said.
“Those who complain juice (top up air-time on) their phones every day. It’s a question of priority. Electricity is not being taken seriously. If you don’t have the money, you can’t use it,” he said.
The minister said there was no reason to have electricity debts accrued at the height of the economic crisis written off because the power utility was equally affected by the economic problems and the cost of maintaining equipment was very high.
Mangoma said there were also plans to install smart meters in low-density suburbs and not the pre-paid meters that were being installed in high-density suburbs. The move, he said, was meant to ensure proper distribution of power so that load-shedding would eventually be phased out.
“In low-density areas, we are advocating for smart meters. We want to be able to ration power that is going into the low-density suburbs so that we avoid load-shedding anyone,” he said.
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He said as of last week,206 000 pre-paid meters had been installed and the number of outstanding households was now less than 50% and he was hoping they would be done by August.
